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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: TUM-VAN |
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TURIN , a city of Piedmont, Italy, capital of the province of Turin, formerly of the kingdom of Sardinia until I86o, and of Italy till the removal of the seat of government to Florence in 1865. Pop. (1906), 277,121 (town), 361,720 (commune), with a garrison of 85o0, the town being the headquarters of the I. army corps. The area of the city is 4155 acres, and its octroi circle measures nearly 9 m. Its geographical position is excellent; built upon alluvial soil 784 ft. above sea-level at a short distance from the Alps, it stands upon the river Po, which here runs from south to north just above the confluence of the Dora Riparia. The streets and avenues, almost all of which are straight, cut each other at right angles, forming blocks of houses, here as else-where called " islands." As viewed from the east the city stands out boldly against the Alps. Taken as a whole it is modern in aspect, but its regularity of form is in reality derived from the ancient Roman town of Augusta Taurinorum, which formed its nucleus. The mean temperature at Turin (1871igoo) is 530 F. (winter 350, summer 710), with an average maximum of go, and an average minimum of 17. Mists are frequent in the winter mornings, and to a less degree in autumn. Snow falls on an average only on seven days per annum. The rainfall averages 34 in.The cathedral of St John the Baptist is a cruciform Renaissance building dating from 14921498, by the Florentine Meo da Caprina. The site was first occupied by a church erected, it is said, by the Lombard duke Agilulf (7th century). Behind the high altar of the cathedral (from which it is separated by a glass screen) is the chapel of the Sudario or Sindone, built (16571694) by Guarini as a royal burial-place. The " sudario " from which it takes its name is asserted to be the shroud in which Joseph of Arimathea wrapped the body of Jesus. La Beata Vergine della Consolata, another of Guarini's works, has a tower which originally belonged to the church of St Andrew, founded by the monk Bruning in 1014, and attracts attention by Vincenzo Vela's beautiful kneeling statues of Queen Maria Teresa and Queen Maria Adelaide, as well as by the image of the Madonna, which has the credit of having warded off the cholera in 1835. Other churches of some note are San Filippo Neri (16721772), the dome of which fell in just as it was approaching completion under the hands of Guarini and was restored by Juvara, and La Gran Madre de Dio, erected to commemorate the return of the royal family in 1814. Of the secular buildings the more interesting are the Palazzo Madama, first erected by William of Montferrat at the close of the i3th century on the Roman east gate of the town, remains of the towers of which were incorporated in it, and owing its name to the widow of Charles Emmanuel II., who added the west facade and the handsome double flight of steps from Juvara's designs; and the extensive royal palace begun in the 17th century. Many of the palaces have fine pillared court-yards of the baroque
zoology and mineralogy
There are many modern public monumentsconsiderably more than in other Italian townsand some of them are fine. The Mole Antonelliana, built by Alessandro Antonelli, is the most important example of modern architecture in Turin. It belongs to the municipality, and is used for the Risorgimento Museum. It is the highest brick edifice in Europe, its summit being 510 ft. above ground. It is a square edifice with a large dome and lofty spire, the dome being raised upon a hall
Among the hospitals is that called by the name of its founder, Cottolengo, a vast institution providing for more than 5000 persons; there are also the Ospedale Maggiore di San Giovanni, the Ospedale Mauriziano, and many other hospitals for special diseases, as well as asylums and charitable institutions of all kinds. The industries comprise metallurgy, machine-making, chemicals, silk and cotton
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The opening of the St Gothard tunnel exercised a prejudicial influence upon the traffic of the network of railways of which Turin is the centre, and Milan, owing to its nearness both to this and to the Simplon, has become the most important railway centre of Italy. Turin has, however, the advantage of being the nearest to the Mont Cenis, while the completion of the line through Cuneo over the Col di Tenda affords direct communication with the French Riviera. Main lines run also from Turin toVercelli and thence to Novara and Milan (the direct route), to Casale Monferrato, to Alessandria (and thence to Piacenza or Genoa), to Genoa via Asti and Acqui, to Bra and Savona, and branch lines to Lanzo, Torre Pellice, Aosta, Rivoli, Rivarolo, &c., and steam tramways in various directions. For administrative purposes the city is divided into two municipal police sections and into seven government districts or mandamenti. The military organization is proportionate in importance to the strategical position of Turin near the French frontier. There is a military arsenal with laboratories, a military academy for artillery and engineer officers, a war school, and a military hospital. Among the surroundings of Turin the Hill of Superga (2300 ft. above the sea) merits special mention. Victor Amadeus II. erected there a votive basilica in memory of the liberation of Turin from the French in 1706.. King Charles Albert and other kings and princes of the Savoy dynasty are buried in the crypt. Not far from Turin are also the castles of Moncalieri, Stupinigi, Rivoli, Racconigi, Agle, Venaria, and the ancient monastery of the Sagra di San Michele (753 metres above sea-level), famous for its view of the Alps as fat as the beginning of the Lombard plain. Turin was always a place of importance and military strength, in spite of numerous vicissitudes, till at length it was made the chief
capital of Italy.The ancient Augusta Taurinorum was a city of Gallia Cisalpina, the chief town of the Taurini. The natural advantages of its site and its position with relation to the pass over the Alpis Cottia (Mont Genevre; see CoTTU REGNUM) made it important in early times, though it cannot have been very strongly fortified, inasmuch as Hannibal, after crossing the Alps in 218 B.C., was able to take it after a three days' siege. It became a colony either under the triumvirs or under Augustus
inscriptions which have been discovered there. The Roman town formed a rectangle 2526 ft. by 2330; the line of the walls, which were 21 ft. high, 7 ft. thick at ground level and 3 ft. at the top, is well known, inasmuch as they were standing till about Woo; and the north gate, the Porta Palatina, still exists; it has a double opening, and two orders of arches above, and is flanked by two sixteen-sided brick towers. The east gate, similar in character, still exists in part within the Palazzo Madama. The north-west corner tower is also in part preserved, and traces of other parts of the enceinte have been found. The interior of the town was divided by seven streets from east to west and eight from north to south into 72 insulae; and the ancient pavement and the drains below it are frequently found under the streets of the central portion of the modern town, indicating that they follow the ancient lines (see especially Notizie degli Scavi, 1902, p. 277). In the great extensions which the city has undergone since.1600, the old rectangular arrangement has been followed. Remains of a theatre have been discovered beneath the Palazzo Vecchio, demolished in 1899 (A. Taramelli, in Notizie degli Scavi, 1900, P. 3).See C. Promis, Storia dell' antica Torino (Turin, 1869) ; A. d'Andrade, Relazione dell' ufficio regionale per la conservazione dei rnonumenti del Piemonte e della Liguria, 7 seq. (Turin, 1899). (T. As.) End of Article: TURIN If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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